Comparative Analysis of Power Loss Associated with
Topology of Bi-Directional Z-Source Circuit Breakers
Sagar Bhatta, Yucheng Zhang
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
sbhat001@odu.edu, yzhang@odu.edu
Abstract — Due to the lack of a zero-crossing point in direct
current (DC) unlike alternative current (AC), most of
commercial AC circuit breakers cannot be applied into DC
power systems directly. A couple of Z-Source circuit breaker
topologies have been introduced with capabilities of bi-
directional power flow and automatic/controllable turnoff.
Each of these topologies has its own notable features of
advantages and drawbacks. In this paper, the power loss
analyses of three bi-directional Z-Source circuit breaker
topologies during normal steady-state operation have been
performed. The power loss during steady state is a major
consideration in breaker selection. We identified the current
flow path in these topologies during normal operation and
calculated the losses of associated components in the circuits
respectively, and finally compared their overall power losses
in system level. From the comparative study, we found that
the inter-cross connected bi-directional Z-source breaker has
the minimum loss during steady-state operation among the
three candidates, which makes it a good protection for DC
microgrids and nanogrids.
Index Terms— Bi-directional, Circuit breakers, DC
Protection, Power loss, Z-Source circuit breaker (ZCB).
I. INTRODUCTION
Direct current (DC) is a promising power transmission
and distribution format for the next generation power
systems, due to the DC nature of many renewable energy
resources (like solar and fuel cells) and the development of
high-power, low-loss power electronics, and power
semiconductor devices in the past decades. Keeping an eye
on the current energy consumption rate, DC can be
considered as a new alternative electric power carrier for
the future energy demand. The growing demand of the DC
power system is due to its higher overall efficiency for DC
loads, enabling easier integration of renewable and
distributed energy sources, and providing uninterruptible
power with readily available energy storage elements [1]-
[3].
However, protecting a DC system from faults is still a
quite challenging task. Due to the lack of natural zero-
crossing point in fault current, the difficulty of
extinguishing the arc generated increases as the arc-based
circuit breaker opens [4]. Thus, the concept of Z-source
circuit breaker (ZCB) was introduced, which is based on
the principle of resonant circuits and thyristor’s automatic
turnoff feature at zero-crossing point to interrupt the load
carrying currents in extremely high speed [5][6].
978-1-5386-6133-8/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE
Ruiyun Fu
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Mercer University, Macon, GA
fu_r@mercer.edu
Till now, a couple of Z-source circuit breaker
topologies have been introduced by peers. Each of them
has its own advantages and drawbacks in certain aspects.
In this paper, we analyze the power losses associated with
these Z-source breakers to protect a DC load. In
consideration of required bi-directional power flow
between the utility and the distributed generations, we
only consider bi-directional ZCBs in this paper. The power
losses considered in the reference of [7]-[9] are also
included in this paper. Reference [7] introduced an
uncontrolled-rectifier-based (URB) bi-directional ZCB, as
shown in Fig. 1. This topology includes a full-bridge of
diodes which rectifiers current to unidirectional flow
within the uncontrolled rectifier, while still retaining bi-
directional power flow with only one thyristor, i.e. a
silicon controlled rectifier (SCR). Therefore, it has only
one SCR in the path of conduction which reduces the
power loss.
Another topology of ZCB was the inter-cross-
connected (ICC) bi-directional ZCB introduced in
reference of [8], as shown in Fig. 3. The auxiliary
capacitors, C1 and C2, are used to realize SCRs
commutation [8]. The third topology candidate is the
traditional series-connected (SC) ZCB as introduced in
reference of [9] and shown in Fig. 5. There are two LC
circuits around the SCR, which add some delay in fault
current propagation when a multiple of these breakers are
connected in series [9].
The following sections are organized as follow: Section
II introduces the three ZCB topologies; Section III
describes how to calculate power losses related to
switching and accessory components in the circuits;
Section IV performs overall power loss analysis, which
leads to a conclusion drawn in Section V.
II. Z-SOURCE BREAKER TOPOLOGIES
The primary research focusses on the analysis of three
different z-source breaker topologies and their associated
power losses during steady-state operation. The operation
of a Z-source breaker is based on interaction of LC
elements and SCR in resonant circuit. As known, the
inductor current cannot change instantaneously during
fault conditions, so the fault current passes through the Z-
source capacitors and SCR. This eventually helps the
SCR’s current to commutate and thus turns the SCR off.
The power loss during normal operation is a major

consideration in breaker selection. The topology of
uncontrolled-rectifier-based bi-directional ZCB from [7]
has only one SCR, as shown in Fig. 1. Due to the full-
bridge structure of diode rectifier, this ZCB can be
triggered to interrupt fault current in both the directions and
thus make the topology bidirectional. In the power loss
study of this paper, the ZCB is used to protect an RC load
consisting of RL and CL. SCR (T1) is gated by a pulse signal
in order to turn the circuit breaker from off-state to on-state
[7]. As the circuit breaker reaches the steady-state, the
pulse gating signal can be released to avoid turning off by
transients at power on.
Fig. 1. Topology of uncontrolled-rectifier-based bi-directional
ZCB introduced in [7].
During normal operation of the circuit, the current flow
follows the path consisting of line inductance (LL), diodes
(D1 and D4), Z-source inductors (L1 and L2), SCR (T1), and
Z-source capacitors (C1 and C2). Therefore, the path that
the current flows can be either “LL – D1 – L1 – T1 – L2 – D4
– load”, or “LL – D1 – L1 – T1 – C2 – load”, or “LL – D1 –
L1 – C1 – D4 – load”, depending on current-flow direction.
Fig. 2 shows the equivalent circuit of current flow from Vs
to the RC load. In this state, diodes (D1 and D4) are
conducting whereas D2 and D3 are reverse blocking. The
inductors of LL, L1, and L2, carry load current. This
equivalent circuit is used to analyze power loss of URB-
ZCB during normal operation.
Fig. 2. Equivalent circuit of URB-ZCB for power loss
calculation.
2
The second ZCB taken into consideration is the inter-
cross-connected bi-directional ZCB from [8], as shown in
Fig. 3. This ICC-ZCB consists of two SCRs, two
inductors, three capacitors, and two diodes. Two pairs of
SCR and diode forming a parallel connection are inter-
connected with each other. An RC load is also represented
by a parallel connection of RC circuit, which consists of
RL and CL in Fig. 3. This topology also follows the Z-
source breakers’ operation principle. The LC resonant
circuit responses to high-frequency component in fault
current, which leads the SCR to commutate off naturally.
Fig. 3. Topology of inter-cross-connected bi-directional ZCB
introduced in [8].
During normal operating conditions, the SCR (T2), and
the diode (D1) are reverse biased in the ICC-ZCB. Fig. 4
is the equivalent circuit of ICC-ZCB for power loss
calculation.
Fig. 4. Equivalent circuit of ICC-ZCB for power loss
calculation.
The third candidate is the traditional series-connected
bi-directional ZCB from [9], as shown in Fig. 5. Different
from the other two topologies, this SC-ZCB has a
antiparallel-connected SCR pair connecting in series with
LC resonant circuits. Each inductor has a freewheeling
diode in parallel. Compared to other topologies, this
traditional SC-ZCB has the most number of passive
components in the circuit. During normal operation, one
of the two SCRs (T1 and T2) operates in conduction mode,
depending on current-flow direction.

Fig. 5. Topology of traditional series-connected bi-
directional ZCB introduced in [9].
During normal operation, the SCR (T2), and diodes (D2
and D3) are reversely biased. The current flows through all
of four inductors (L1-L4), capacitors (considering their
leakage current), and the SCR (T1). Fig. 6 is the equivalent
circuit of SC-ZCB for power loss calculation.
Fig. 6. Equivalent circuit of SC-ZCB for power loss
calculation.
III. STEADY-STATE POWER LOSS ASSESSMENT
The overall power loss of ZCBs during steady-state
normal operation consists of individual loss associated with
every single component that participates in the equivalent
circuits for power loss calculation. The considerations and
equations of these power losses are presented for inductors,
capacitors, diodes, and SCRs as below:
A. Inductor loss:
Two major losses in an inductor are winding loss and
core loss. But as the focus is on the DC supply, the core
loss is neglected and thus only the winding loss of the
inductor is considered here, which can be calculated from
(1) and (2).
≈ = ∙ (1)
,
= (2)
where,
N is the number of winding turns;
3
lm is the mean length per turn, in cm;
Aw is the area of the wire, in cm2
= 1.762 ∗ 10 (Ώ − cm).
B. SCR losses:
SCR is a unidirectional power semiconductor device,
which means it can only conduct current in one direction.
It is also known as a half-controlled device. Power loss of
the SCR includes three kinds: off-state loss, switching
loss, and conduction loss. The off-state loss is due to
leakage current in device and typically relatively small. So
it is neglected in this study. The switching loss is transient
loss during the turn-on and the reverse recovery processes
of thyristor. The conduction loss depends on the on-
resistance in SCR and current level during conduction
mode. In general,
, ≈ + (3)
For ZCB application, there is almost zero switching
loss. Therefore, only the conduction loss of the SCR is
considered in this study. The equation of (5) can be further
simplified to:
, ≈ ∙ (4)
where,
I is the current through SCR, in amps;
R is the on-resistance of SCR, in ohms.
C. Diode loss:
A power diode permits current flow when it is forward-
biased whereas blocks the current flow when it is
reversely-biased. Part of energy is lost on power diode and
dissipated as heat. This is considered as the power loss.
This power loss of diode can be calculated by using:
= . (5)
where,
VF is the forward voltage across the diode, in volts;
Id is the current flowing through the diode, in amps.
D. Capacitor losses:
The capacitor loss include the leakage current loss and
the equivalent-series-resistance (ESR) loss. The ESR loss
can be calculated using (6) and (7), but this loss can be
neglected in this DC system. The only capacitor loss taken
into consideration here is due to the parallel internal
(insulation/leakage) resistance of a capacitor, which can
be calculated with (8). Generally speaking, the value of
this parallel insulation/leakage resistance is extreme high
(in Mega ohms). Overall, the capacitor loss is negligible
in this study.
= . . . tan( ) (6)
tan( ) = = (7)
where,
 4

VRMS is the voltage across the resonant capacitor, in

volts; The total power losses of three ZCB topologies under
Q is the quality factor; a common load condition are calculated by using the
Xc is the reactance of the capacitor, in ohms.
equivalent circuits from Figures 2, 4, and 6 and the
parameters of Tables I & II. The numerical comparison is
= (8) presented in Table III.

where, TABLE III. Comparison of total power losses in ZCBs

Vs is the supply voltage, in volts; Topology Total Power Loss Overall
IR is the insulation/leakage resistance of capacitor, in in watts in % Efficiency (%)
ohms. URB-ZCB 260.588 1.6286 98.3714
ICC-ZCB 211.132 1.32 98.68
SC-ZCB 262.176 1.6386 98.3614
IV. ANALYSIS OF TOTAL POWER LOSS
The specification of ZCB components are identified for
the total power loss analysis. The total power loss is the V. CONCLUSION
sum of individual losses in (9). The source voltage (Vs = In this paper, the power loss analyses of three bi-
400V), load capacitance (CL= 500uF), and load power (PL directional z-source circuit breakers are performed. Based
= 16kW) are all the same for three case studies. And the on the calculations, we found that the inter-cross-connected
on-resistance of SCR is set to 0.1 Ohms. bi-directional Z-source breaker has the least power loss
during normal steady-state operation, when there is a
_ = ∑( , + , + , + requirement of energizing the same load through these
) … (9) three kind of ZCBs. The other two topologies of ZCB have
slightly higher power loss, which is due to the presence of
For the URB-ZCB, the parameter values are specified extra diodes in their circuits.
as listed in Table I, according to the method of [7]. These
parameters are also applicable to the study case of SC-
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